Trials of Redemption
by packleader96
Summary: When a new stallion moves to Ponyville, to twilight and her friends, he seems like a nice young stallion, and befriend him, but when a strange series of attacks begin to happen, Twilight will soon realize that this new arrival, has a few dark secrets to hide. Rated T for Strong Violence, Language, and Minor Sexuality. Rating may Change
1. Prologue

**A/N: my greatest apologies, for not uploading anything for some time, but high school can be a pain in the rear end, anyway, I have a new story for you, and I thought this up over the past few weeks, hope you enjoy.**

**Trials of Redemption: prologue**

(Baltimare, residential district)

The night was dark, thick, gray clouds covered the night sky, a modest rain drenched the streets, the only light, was that of the street lamps, and the lights of ambulances.

An older pony walked down the street, dressed in a police uniform, he had his hood up, he briskly walked along the street, to the large group of ponies gathered outside the house, as he approached he walked past the line, that kept the civilians back, he walked up to one of his officers, "Sergeant, keep these civilians back, don't let them in" he said as he walked past the line and moved in, all the ponies gathered in front of one big house, being the one of the fancier neighborhoods, the house was fairly large, many of the lights in the house were on, but there was no party.

As he came closer, one pony ran up to him, "Chief, glad you arrived, it's not good sir" he said walking beside him, the Chief turned to him, "what do we got?" he asked, the Lieutenant walked in front of him and sighed heavily, "like I said it's not pretty, that bastard struck again, triple murder, this time he killed most of the Star family" he said, a sorrowful look appeared on the Chief's face, "I know, I was a close friend to Mr. Star, and the rest of the family" he said as they came to the front of the house.

He turned to the Lieutenant, "where are the bodies?" he asked, the Lieutenant turned to the house, "coming out right now" he said as six ponies came out the front door of the house and descended the steps, carrying three stretchers, all covered in blankets, with blood stains on them, as they were set down, he walked up to them, the Lieutenant stopped him, "sir…it's not good" he said but the Chief pushed him aside, "I've been on this guy's trail for years now, I know what he's capable of" he said was he approached one of the stretcher's, and lifted the cover.

As soon as he did, he looked under, and immediately regretted doing so, his eyes widened in shock, and he quickly dropped the cover and looked away, a look of horror in his eyes, "what…what were the official causes of death?" he asked, the Lieutenant sighed, "Mr. Star was stabbed to death, four in the stomach, three times in the chest, his wife was beaten and raped, and then had her throat cut open, and the oldest son, was stabbed to death in his sleep" he said, the Chief sighed heavily, the rain continued beating down.

The Chief sighed again, "Let me guess, no trace of him either?" he said, the Lieutenant shook his head, "that's what was different, when we got here, we found a fourth body" he says as a final, stretcher emerged from the house, and walked past them, it stopped and the Chief lifted the cover and gasped, the body of the murderer, he lowered the cover, and turned to the Lieutenant, who could already tell what he was going to ask.

"we found his body, cause of death, was being shot in the chest" he asked, the Chief was stunned, "but, who killed _him_ then, I thought you said he killed the entire family" he said but the Lieutenant shook his head, by this time the rain had slowed down and they took their hoods off, "I said he killed _most_ of the family, if you want to know what happened, you'll have to ask the youngest son, Fleet" he said as they made their way over to the ambulance, as they got closer, the Chief saw a very young colt unicorn, sitting down, being cleaned up by a medic, the Chief turned to the Lieutenant, who just gestured to the young colt, who seemed barely old enough to even levitate a weapon.

The Chief made his way over there, as he got closer, he saw it was the youngest son, he had a very light gray coat, and a light blue mane, as he came up to them, he dismissed the medic, and walked up to the young colt, as he leaned down and got eye level with him, he could see the pure terror in his eyes, something he had never seen in all his years as Chief of the force, he gently placed a hoof on his shoulder, when he did the colt looked up at him, his eyes completely stained with tears, he looked as if he was about to cry, but who could blame him, considering all the horrible things he's seen in the past few hours alone.

The Chief did his best to comfort him, he shushed him, "hey, it's going to be okay, alright, you're going to be just fine" he said, the colt looked up at him, tears still pouring from his eyes, there was a look in his eyes that the Chief had never seen before, he tried his best to smile, "is…is…my family going to be okay, what's going to happen to me?" he asked, as he started sobbing, the Chief sat next to him and pulled him closer, "hey, hey, everything's going to okay, we'll get this all figured out, you're a very brave young colt you know that, your parents would want you to be strong" he said, but the young colt only continued to cry, as if the very mention of his parents, struck a pang of fear and sadness into him, the colt continued to cry into the Chief's shoulder, while he tried to comfort him.

While he did, he turned and saw the lieutenant staring at him, he simply nodded and the Lieutenant walked away, the colt continued crying, "I want my mommy and daddy back!" he cried, and Chief just shushed him, "it's going to be okay, just…let it all out, you're going to be fine, I promise" he said as he finally started calming down, as he did he lifted him out of the ambulance and walked down the street.

Soon the rain had stopped, and the clouds began to clear, revealing the bright moon.

**A/N: well, I hope you all enjoyed, more chapters will be up soon, until then, thanks for reading, peace.**


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: well, here is the next chapter for this story, hope you enjoy it, and a quick note, this story will take place before the season 3 finale, so twilight will still be a unicorn, just to let you know, enjoy.**

**Trials of Redemption: chapter 1: new stallion in town**

The day was bright and beautiful, the town of PonyVille, was as active as it usually was, most ponies had gone to work for the day, fillies and colts were in school, and a particular unicorn, was deep in her studies.

(PonyVille, public library)

Twilight was standing in her front room, reading a chemistry book, and observing her project, Spike was gratefully helping her, but remaining quiet, Twilight levitated her bottle of the liquid she was experimenting with, and turned to the book, she then turned to the other vials, and carefully began to tip hers.

Just as the liquid was about to spill out, there came a loud knock at the door, completely startled, Twilight nearly lost her grip in the vial.

When she caught it, she groaned angrily and walked towards the door, "I thought I told them not to disturb me, at this time" she grumbled, knowing it was probably one of her friends, she briskly opened the door, standing there were her five friends, all smiling warmly, they all walked in, without Twilight even inviting them in.

"What is this, I thought I said I can't be disturbed at this hour, I was in the middle of a project, what could possibly be so important?" she asked, Rainbow stepped up, "calm down Twi, there's a new stallion moving into town, he's very wealthy, she said it's some owner of a huge company back in Baltimare, the mayor wants the six of us to go and welcome him, apparently he bought the old Everfree Hill Manor, just a little ways outside town, so we need to go" she said, Twilight gave a curious look, "what's Everfree Hill Manor?" she asked, Applejack stepped forward, "only one of the biggest houses in PonyVille, it's been abandoned for years now, but this guy comes along and buy's it, so let's go" she said, and they all went out the door.

(PonyVille outskirts)

As they walked away from town, they saw a large building on top of a hill not far away, from what they could tell it was a very large house, at least two stories, as they walked, Twilight was curious to know about this new pony, "so, what's this pony's name, and what's the company that he owns, you girls don't know anything about him?" she asked, Applejack looked at her, "nope nothing, all we know, is that he's pretty dang wealthy, if he can afford to buy this place, and have a bunch of furniture, I think they have been planning on tearing it down for some time, but I guess not" she said as they came to the edge of the property and walked past the gate, they saw a giant moving wagon, almost completely empty, the house was two stories tall, covered with large glass windows, Twilight was shocked that she didn't know it was even here, they calmly walked up to the large double doors, and knocked a few times.

They waited a few minutes, when the door finally opened, revealing an older stallion in a butler's uniform, Twilight was the first to speak, "good afternoon, my name is Twilight Sparkle, and these are my friends, it is our duty to welcome you to PonyVille, good sir" she said in a formal tone, the stallion stared at her for a few seconds, and then let out a light chuckle, his voice was very distinct, "I appreciate that, but I am just simply the master's butler, if you wish to speak with him, you'll have to come back at a more appropriate time" he said, but as Twilight was about to say something, a much younger voice came from inside the house, "come now, if we have guests, let them in" the voice said, the butler looked back, "yes, master Star" he said and opened the door fully and moved to the side and gestured for them to enter.

As they crossed the threshold, they were amazed at what they saw, the house was simply beautiful on the inside, a spiral staircase, that lead to the upper hall, they all looked around in amazement, "it must have been very expensive to buy and furnish this place" Twilight said as they stood in the middle of the corridor.

They heard a chuckle come from the top of the staircase, "yes, it was rather expensive to purchase, but for somepony in my position, it was well worth it" they all turned and saw a young stallion about their age, looking down at them smiling, he slowly descended the stairs, they saw he had a very light gray coat, and a light blue mane, as he reached the bottom he walked up to them and offered his hoof to Twilight.

Twilight smiled kindly and shook his hoof, "pleasure to meet you, my name is Twilight Sparkle, and these are my friends, we've been sent by the mayor to welcome you to our town, we never caught your name" she said, he smiled at her, "pleasure to make your acquaintance Ms. Sparkle, my name is Fleet, Fleet Star, proud owner of Star Industries, and thank you for the kind welcoming, it's nice to know that there are some nice ponies in this town" he said with a warm smile.

Twilight recognized the name of his company, "wait, you mean, that Star Industries, one of the wealthiest companies in the kingdom, shouldn't you be in Baltimare, what made you come out here?" she asked, he smiled at her, "well, I may own the company, but my advisors run it, and I go whenever there's an important meeting, as for why I moved here, I have always wanted to live in a peaceful town, cities like Manehatten, Fillydelphia, and Canterlot are too fast paced for me, everypony always seems to be in a hurry, I've come here to avoid it all" he said calmly, Twilight smiled at him, "well, I think we must have taken up much of your time, so we will get going, I hope we can get together again soon, we would love to give you a tour of the town" she said as they made their way to the door.

"oh yes, I will have to take you up on that offer, I hope we see each other again soon Miss Sparkle, it's been fun" he said as he turned and walked back up the stairs.

The butler turned and ushered them out the door, as they crossed through the gate, Twilight turned and looked up into one of the windows, and from what she thought he saw, Fleet was staring at her from one of the second story windows, he seemed to stare right at her, she quickly looked away and ran to her friends, and continued on too town.

As they walked down the path, Fleet watched them through the window; he took a deep shaky breath, just as his butler walked in, he placed a tray with a wine bottle and some sandwiches on the table near the door, he gave off a light chuckle, "well sir, they all seem like a nice group of ponies, especially that Twilight Sparkle, she seemed to take a liking to you rather quickly" he said turning to him, Fleet sighed and continued to watch them as they entered town, "yes they do seem nice, and that's what I fear, they need to learn that kindness isn't always the best thing, sometimes it can get you and those around you killed, if you're not careful, I should know, more than most ponies" he said turning away from the window, and pouring himself a glass of wine.

His butler looked at him with worry, "sir if I may, I may be nothing more than your butler, but you must be careful, we both know what happens to those who get too close to you, _he_ will not allow it, and that's the last thing you want on your mind, more guilt… goodnight sir" he said as he exited the room.

Fleet sighed and took a long swig of his drink, "goodnight, Crimson, see you in the morning" he said as the door closed, he knew he was right, it would be wise for Twilight and her friends to keep their distance, if they knew what was good for them.

**A/N: well, I hoped you enjoyed a fair warning now, there will be some very gruesome scenes in the coming chapters, just a warning, see you all next time.**


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: well, I have the next chapter of this story, hope you guys have enjoyed so far, your support really helps, enjoy.**

**Trials of Redemption: chapter 2: walk in town**

The next day, after their initial meeting with the newest stallion in town, Twilight was bust getting things ready, for a trip to the market, to get some more things, for the place, as she levitated the bag over her body, she called out to spike, "Spike! I'm going to the market, watch the library while I'm gone" she said as she opened the door, she heard Spike answer back, "Okay, see you later Twi" he yelled from upstairs, and Twilight briskly trotted out the door.

(PonyVille, market place)

Twilight trotted through the market, collecting everything that was on her list; finally she was heading to the last stand, she walked to the back of the line, and waited patiently, just a she got closer, she heard a chuckle next to her, "well, well, fancy seeing you again Miss Sparkle" she turned and saw Fleet trot up to her with a smile on his face, she smiled at him, "oh hi, Fleet, good to see you, what are you doing here?" she asked, he smiled, "oh me, I was just out for an afternoon walk, get to know the town a little, I'm still a little lost" he said with a slight smile, she smiled back, and an idea formed in her head.

"well, I'm just finishing up some shopping, if you like, I can give you a little tour of the town, after I drop this all off" she said with a warm smile, Fleet looked at her for a minute, with a blank expression, as if he was hesitating, then he smiled at her, "I think that would be very nice, as long as you don't have anything terribly important today, I wouldn't want to come between you and your work" he said in a concerned tone, Twilight merely smiled.

"Oh, not today, my schedule is free for the day, wait here, this is the last thing on my list" she said and focused on the line, while Fleet walked away.

Later, after she put the last item in her back, and walked over to wear Fleet was leaning against the wall, he saw her and small and stood straight, "alright, that takes care of everything on my list, let me just drop this all off at the library" she said, and started walking towards home, Fleet smiled and followed.

As they got closer, "I'm sorry, did you say library, you work at the library?" he asked, confused, Twilight smiled at him, "not just work there, I live there as well, I have ever since I moved out here, it's very nice, all the books I could ever want" she said as they turned and corner, and walked to the front door, Fleet was impressed, the library seemed in pretty good condition, he turned and saw Twilight open the door, and gesture for him to come in, he smiled and walked in after her.

"Spike, I'm back!" she shouted as they came into the main room, she went into the kitchen, and started unloading the groceries, Fleet was impressed by her collection of books, she must be a very avid reader, just as he heard somepony running down the stairs, he turned and saw a young dragon instead, who stopped and turned to him shocked, just as Twilight came back into the room, she smiled, "Spike, this is Fleet, he's the new pony that just moved into town, Fleet this is my assistant Spike, he helps me around the library, he's also like a little brother to me" she said with a grin, Spike shook off his shocked look and gave a nervous smile.

"Hi, how ya doing?" he said extending his claw out, Fleet hesitated but did his best to smile, and shook, "pleasure to meet you, pardon me, but I couldn't help but notice, you have a very impressive collection of books, so you enjoy reading?" he asked, walking along reading all the names of the books, Spike gave an annoyed look, "only all the time" he said in a grumble, prompting Twilight to give him a shove, but she smiled none the less, "well yes, it is one of my more favorite pass times, before I moved here, I was constantly reading books, then I moved here, and met my friends, and the rest is history" she said watching him.

Still walking along the shelf, "well, I'm quite a reader myself, being in such a large house, gives me plenty of room to store my books, perhaps we can trade books every once in a while" he said turning to her, she smiled and nodded, just as Fleet's stomach began to growl, quickly a blush came to his face, "excuse me, I haven't eaten since breakfast" he said, Twilight giggled, and looked at the clock, an idea forming in her head, she turned and smiled at him, "well, I have an idea, do you like sweets?" she asked, a confused look appeared on his face, "I'm sorry?" he said, Twilight walked up to him and nudged him, "I know the perfect place" she said briskly walking out the door.

Fleet watched her for a minute then shrugged and quickly ran after her.

(PonyVille, Sugarcube Corner)

They both stood outside a simple two story building, Fleet looked over at Twilight with a confused look, she just nudged him again, "come on, this the best place in town to but sweets, probably the kingdom, the best sweets you will ever taste, my friend Pinkie works here" she said, he sighed heavily, and looked around, making sure he wasn't watched, and briskly followed her inside.

Inside, the place had its usual customers, those who enjoyed sitting down, to have an afternoon treat, as they got closer to the counter, Fleet remembered the pink pony from the day before, standing behind the counter, talking to some ponies, when she saw them coming she smiled widely and put her hooves on the counter.

"Hi Twilight! What brings you here today?" she asked, Twilight smiled at her friend, "hey Pinkie, just dropping in with a friend, you remember Fleet from the day before, we just came in for something sweet" she said, Pinkie smiled again, "well you came to the right place, Mr. Star, you can't find a better sweet treat in all the kingdom, what can I get you two?" she said leaning over the counter.

Twilight looked back and smiled, "I think we just have two slices of chocolate cake" she said with a smile, Twilight said, getting out a bag of bits, Fleet stepped beside her, "oh no, I'll pay for this" he said reaching into his bag, and pulling a small sack that jingled when it shook, he tossed the bag on to the counter, making some coins fly out, Pinkie's eyes widened, she picked up the bag, and looked at Fleet, complete shock written on her face, he just tossed her an entire bag of bits, worth more than five cakes put together, Fleet merely smiled, "oh take it all, think of it as…a generous donation, there's much, much, more where that came from" he said as they turned and walked away, and sat at a table, Twilight still surprised that he well overpaid for the cake, "well, that was very kind of you, I've never seen a pony like you, practically give out money" she said, he smiled at her, "that's where most ponies are wrong, they think just because were very rich, that we are all greedy and selfish, but that's not how I was raised, I do what I can to help those less fortunate, I guess you can say I'm a philanthropist" he said with a big smile, Twilight was amazed, even growing up in the wealth of Canterlot, she was raised to always help those in need, seems that fleet was as well.

Now, Twilight was curious to know more about him, "so Fleet, tell me a little about yourself, where were you born, family, friends, that sort of thing" she said leaning over the table, he looked at her, the slightest look of sadness in his eyes, but that quickly left when he chuckled, "well, it's no heroic tale, I tell you that, but I was born in Baltimare, raised by my Uncle and Aunt, when to the University of Baltimare, graduated top of my class, and then I came into control of the company, a lot of my friends are still back in Baltimare, I go to see them every once in a while, same with my Uncle, but when I got to a certain age, I decided to travel the kingdom, on some occasions, I have even left to visit the Griffon Kingdoms, very nice out there, so yeah, that about covers it" he said, Twilight was confused, he was very vague on his family.

"Wait, you said raised by your Uncle, what about our parents?" she asked, the question caught his interest, his smile completely faded, replaced by a frown, Twilight assumed she might have offended him in some way, he leaned away, and looked at the table, a sad, distant look in his eyes, he quickly looked at the ceiling, and then back at her, taking a deep breath, he smiled, "sorry about that, I just…it becomes a little uncomfortable for me to talk about my family, lots of bad memories" he said trying to smile Twilight looked at him worriedly.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" she tried to say, but Fleet cut her off, "it's okay, it's not your fault, I just don't like talking about my family, I hope you understand" he said with a straight face, Twilight nodded, just as Pinkie came up and placed two plates of chocolate cake, "here you two go, enjoy, and thanks again" she said mainly referring to Fleet's donation, and walked away.

"so tell me a little about you, Twilight" he said, Twilight smiled at him, and then started talking about her family, and life in Canterlot, all the way to her recent adventures in PonyVille, the entire time, Fleet listened intently.

(Later…)

Later, Twilight and Fleet, walked out of the building, both of them laughing, they looked and saw the sun was starting it's slow descent over the mountains, "well, I really should be going, Spike is probably wondering, where I went off to, this was really nice, I'll see you later" she said turning away, and slowly walking away, Fleet waved goodbye, and turned, but suddenly got an idea, he turned and shouted after her, "Twilight, wait up!" he called as he ran up to her, she turned with a surprised look on her face, "I almost forgot to mention, I'm hosting a grand party at my house, in a few days, everypony in town will be invited, you and your friends should come, if there's one thing I know how to do, it's throw a wild party" he said with a smile, Twilight thought for a moment, and then smiled, "sure, sounds fun, I'll go tell my friends, bye" she said as she turned and walked away again, Fleet watched her go, a smile on his face, he turned away and began trotting home.

When he reached the edge of town, he suddenly stopped and his smile completely faded, he looked back, but saw no sign of her, only the ponies leaving work, and going home for the night, he turned back and looked at his house, he took a deep shaky breath, "what am I doing? This is a mistake, I can't let this happen again, remember what happened last time, Fleet, don't do it" he said as he sighed and trotted back to his house.

**A/N: well, that was interesting, what could our mysterious friend be up to, find out in the coming chapters, hope you all enjoyed, see you next time.**


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: hey guys, got some time to write another chapter for this story, but I should give a fair warning, the later parts of this chapter, may become graphic and disturbing, so be advised, but regardless, enjoy the chapter.**

**Trials of Redemption: chapter 3: the party**

It had been a few days since Twilight had given Fleet a tour of the town, and tonight was the night for his grand party, he had his servants go around town the past few days hanging up flyers, all the residents of PonyVille were invited, almost everypony was busy getting ready to attend the party, with it being a formal affair, Rarity's business became full of orders for dresses and suits, which she was more than happy to fulfill, but she still managed to put time aside to fix up their dresses from the Gala.

As they all waited in the dressing room, they all sat in front of mirrors, putting on their dresses, and fixing their manes, and when they had finally finished, they left the shop and immediately, started making their way to Fleet's mansion, luckily for them it was only half a mile from the shop entrance, so they decided to walk.

Not long after, they reached the end of town, and could see Fleet's house, lit from basement to attic, ponies all making their way inside, as they got closer, they began making their way through the crowd that had assembled in the front of the house, as they approached the door, they noticed the same butler from the first time they were here, when he saw them he smiled, "aw, Miss Sparkle, it's good to see you and your friends again, Master Fleet is waiting for the other guests to arrive, please enjoy yourselves" he said as they smiled and walked past him and through the door, as he watched them go, he reached up to the small hidden headset and pressed the small button, "they're here" he said as he brought his hoof down, and turned to greet the next guests.

As they made their way inside, they were amazed by what they saw, the main room was now more furnished, and better lit, decorations hung from the main chandelier, and wrapped around the banister of the staircase, ponies walked in between each room, admiring the dazzling scenery, they could only imagine what the other parts of the house looked like, other ponies dressed in similar suits, walked around levitating trays of wine glasses and snacks, it was clear that Fleet spared no expense.

As they all started making their way, they heard a particularly loud clinging sound, all the guests in the rooms turned to the staircase, to see a well-dressed unicorn stallion there, levitating an empty glass and a fork, he had a large smile on his face as he placed the glass down, he cleared his throat and began speaking.

"my friends, firstly I would like to thank you all for coming and attending my party, I promise this to be a grand night for all, but I would also like to thank you for being such welcoming neighbors, I hope that I can repay you all for being the best neighbor I can be, and I hope that we can all get along in the future, but for now, let's all enjoy the party!" he said loudly as some ponies in the crowd cheered and went straight back to their chatting, drinking, and eating, Twilight and her friends watched as Fleet came off the stairs, and walked straight over to them, a broad smile on his face.

When he walked up to them, he looked at Twilight and smiled, "aw it's good to see you and your friends again Twilight, you look beautiful tonight you all do, I hope you are enjoying yourselves, please allow me to give you a tour, now that everything is finished" he said as he started walking, Twilight and her friends all looked at each other, and then walked to catch up with him.

(Later…)

After giving them a large tour of the house, they arrived at Fleet's private library, on the second floor, they all walked in laughing as Fleet closed the door, when Twilight looked around, she was amazed by what she saw, books, lots of them, shelves filled with book after book, when he said he had a collection of his own, he really meant it, "wow, this is an impressive collection, even the library doesn't have as many books as this one room" Twilight said in amazement, Fleet smiled at her, pouring multiple glasses of wine, for all seven of them, "I thought you might like it, I have books from other exotic places, like the Griffon Kingdoms, the dragons, and even the Crystal Empire" he said proudly, Twilight kept looking at all the books, "well, it truly is amazing" she said, Fleet took a step towards her, "well, if you ever feel the need, we could trade books every now and then, I'm sure we have books the other doesn't" he said with a smile, as he levitated a glass of wine to her, she gladly took it, and took a sip.

Just as they did, he glanced up at the clock, and his smile immediately fell, and for a moment Twilight could see a look of pure fear in his eyes, but then it was gone, just as quickly as it appeared, Twilight glanced at the clock, it was later then she thought, the tour must have taken up some time, but that doesn't explain his brief fearful look, she turned to him with worry, "hey Fleet, is everything alright, you just looked as if you saw a ghost" she said, catching all her friends attention, he turned and looked at her, frowning, "I…I uh, um, I'm sorry to say this, but I need to go, I have…something important to do, I'm sorry to leave you like this, but please, enjoy the rest of the party, I'll see you sometime tomorrow, maybe" he said as he drank the last of his wine, and quickly walked out of the room, leaving them all very confused.

"Well that was weird, what suddenly got into him?" Rainbow asked confused, Twilight looked at all of them, "I'm not sure, but let's just enjoy the party, maybe we'll catch up with him later" she said as they all made their way to the door, and rejoined the party.

(Later that night, house)

A young stallion walked through the hall of his house; he had just returned home from a long day of work, he had gotten many orders for various types of jewelry, for the big party, which was being hosted by PonyVille's newest residence, he ran the local jewelry shop, in town, as he walked through the house, he heard a female voice call from the bedroom, "sweetie, you coming to bed?" he heard the voice ask, it was his wife, "yeah, be right there" he said as he walked into the room, and saw his wife reading a book, while lying in bed, she looked up at him and smiled as he got into the bed next to her, kissing her on the cheek, "you know, I was thinking, maybe we should have gone to this party, help welcome the new resident, I feel as if were the only two ponies in town, who didn't go" she said putting the book down and turning to him.

He smiled at her, and kissed her on the lips, "nonsense, we don't need to be at a party to have a goodtime, all I need is you, besides, the doctor said you need to relax as much as possible" he said placing a hoof on her stomach, she smiled and placed a hoof over his, they turned to each other, and smiled, they slowly leaned in for a kiss, when suddenly, they heard a sound from the kitchen, it sounded like a glass breaking, "did you hear that?" she asked, he looked at the door, "yeah, must have put a glass to close to the edge, I'll get it" he said climbing out of bed, and making his way into the hall, "be careful" she said fear evident in her voice, he gave her a reassuring smile, as he made his way into their kitchen.

The room was completely dark, he simply switched on the ceiling light, the kitchen and parts of the living room became filled with light, he looked around, and saw exactly what he thought, a glass had fallen off the counter and broken on the floor, "what is it?" he heard his wife ask from the room, "nothing dear, just a glass that fell from the counter, I'll take care of it" he said picking up a broom, and sweeping the floor, free of glass, making sure not to step on any of it, after he finished he threw it away and looked up at the cabinet, "could have sworn I closed you earlier" he said to himself, as he closed the glass cabinet, just as he did, he looked up at his reflection, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw something move, it looked like the shape of a pony.

He turned around just in time, to see a pony dressed in a black cloak jump at him, he jumped out of the way, barely missing the knife in one hoof, "honey, are you okay?!" he heard his wife call in a panic, as he heard movement coming down the hall, "no, stay in the room, lock the door!" he shouted as he faced the attacker, his face was mostly covered, so he couldn't make any details out, the attacker charged forward, faster than anticipated, and he jumped to the side, the blade of the knife cut into his shoulder, making him cry out in pain, he successfully dodged to the side, but his wounded shoulder failed and he fell to the ground, trying to pick himself up, the attacker beat him to it, picking him up by the throat, and slamming him, head first into the wall, with enough force to break his skull.

He could feel his vision blur, as the attacker picked him up again, he desperately tried to reach for something, and only grabbed a glass, he brought it and smashed it against the assailant's head, the attacker didn't even cry out in pain, instead he just threw him across the room again, landing on his cut shoulder, he cried out, he looked up to see the attacker coming at him, knife at the ready, he tried to stand up, he raised his hoof up, and tried to punch him, but the attacker caught his hoof, and using his free hoof, brought the knife straight into his chest, the pony's eyes widened, as the assailant too off his hood, revealing his face, all he could see was a unicorns horn, the attacker pushed him to the ground, as the door to the room opened, the attacker hid next to the hall entrance as his wife came into the kitchen.

She looked at him and gasped, "Sweet Celestia! What-" she was about to say, but stopped when the attacker grabbed her from behind, placing the knife around her neck, pony did his best to try and stand up, but his bleeding wound, drained his energy, he fell to the floor again, he raised his hoof up, "please, don't hurt her, please…" he tried saying, but failed, the assailant merely smiled and in an instant, pushed the knife against her throat, and in one swift move, cut the blade along her throat, her eyes went wide, as blood spilled freely from the cut, he pushed her body to the floor, and turned to the stallion, he was on the brink of death, he walked up to him, and turned him over on to his back and looked at him, he looked as if he was trying to speak, the pony just put his hood on, and brought out his knife, placing it on his neck, and roughly cutting, the stallion's eyes went wide, as blood sprayed from the wound, even splashing into the attackers face, who simply stood up, and watched as the blood poured from the wound, he smiled as the stallion ceased to move, yet his eyes fixed on him, he wiped the blood from his face on a rag from the counter, and made his way to the door, opening it and walking through, very quietly closing it behind him.

**A/N: yeah…like I said, it could get graphic, but you were warned, anyway, it just got interesting, who was that masked assailant, and why is he here, all questions will be answered in time, hope you all enjoyed, and see you next time, peace.**


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: well, I was bored around my house, so I decided to write another chapter for this story, and as I said before, the story will only get more interesting, hope you enjoy.**

**Trials of Redemption: chapter 4: mysteries unfold**

It had been over a day since Twilight and her friends attended Fleet's party, they stayed late, dancing and having fun, until they finally decided to leave after midnight.

Twilight had been doing more studying the following day, and was up late; she was now sound asleep in her bed, the early morning sun shining in through her window, the promise of a normal day, but it would be far from it.

She just started to open her eyes, as the light shined in her face, she groaned and rolled on to her other side, and tried drifting off to sleep, but just as she settled in and closed her eyes, she heard what sounded like knocking, her eyes immediately shot open and she sat up in bed, she yawned and stretched as she looked down at Spike who was starting to stir, he also sat up in bed, and began rubbing his eyes, "uh, what is that?" he asked still half asleep, Twilight groaned as she got out of bed and made her way downstairs, as she did, she heard knocking again, this time at a faster pace, Twilight was now starting to get annoyed, "yes, I'm coming" she said as she made her way up to the door, when she was about to reach it, the door flew open, and in flew Rainbow Dash, a panicked look on her face.

Twilight cried out in surprise, but frowned when she saw it was just Rainbow, "Rainbow, what are you doing, why are you so impatient?" she asked, Rainbow turned to her with a panicked look in her eyes, one that Twilight had never seen before, "there's no time to explain, something's happened in town, and it doesn't seem good, we need to go" she said grabbing Twilight hoof and pulling her along, Twilight didn't need any more provocation and ran after her.

(PonyVille, town square)

As they arrived in town square, they all looked around; they turned and saw a crowd of ponies gathering in front of a house, they immediately rain to the crowd, and saw their other friends already there, Twilight and her friends pushed their ways in front of the crowd, and saw members of the local authority, standing at the entrance to the house, as well as others trying to keep the crowd back, "what's going on, what happened?" Twilight asked her friends, none of them answered, the only one to respond to her question, was Applejack, who merely pointed to the entrance, as two ponies came out carrying a black bag, with what looked like the outline of a body inside, Twilight gasped as two more ponies came out carrying another, followed by a fifth, who she recognized as PonyVille's chief of police, she pushed past the others, and walked up to him.

"Excuse me, what happened here?" she asked, he turned to her, a very solemn look in his eye, he sighed and took off his glasses, "it's not pretty, double murder, the same couple that owned the local jewelry store, the husband was stabbed and had his throat cut, the wife just had her throat cut, one of their neighbors, came to check on them, he found them in the living room, a pool of blood around them, definite signs of a struggle, no sign of who it was" he said as he put on his glasses and walked away.

Twilight felt her heart beat increase, almost to the point where it would burst out her chest, she looked around the crowd, as they all started to disperse, she saw something that caught her eye, in the crowd stood a familiar unicorn, it was Fleet, she watched as he stared as the bodies were taken past him, and placed in a carriage, and taken away, he watched as he looked back at the house, a shocked look on his face, she watched as his expression turned to that of guilt and sorrow, suddenly he turned to look at her, she saw a look in his eyes that she had never seen before in anypony, it was pure fear, unlike anything she had ever seen.

He immediately turned around and made his way down the street, Twilight continued to watch him, as he quickly ducked into an alley and vanished, as if to match the mood of the town, the sky had turned gray from clouds, but it did not rain, Twilight slowly turned around and made her way back to her friends.

Still knowing she watched him, Fleet ducked into the nearest alley, and leaned up against the wall, his heart thumping painfully against his chest, he was surprised he could even breath, he looked out and saw that Twilight and her friends had begun walking away, he sighed sadly, and sat up against the wall, he placed a hoof to his chest, disbelief written all over his face, "no, no it can't be happening again, not here, not now" he said quietly to himself, as he quickly made his way back to his house, and did everything he could to avoid Twilight.

(PonyVille, library)

After hearing of the events, Twilight and her friends returned to the library, the shock of the events of the past few minutes still etched on their faces, the clouds continued to swirl around the sky, they all sat around silently as Twilight came out with some tea and sandwiches, "I can't believe this happened, in PonyVille of all places, this town has never had such a horrible crime happen in it" Applejack said with a solemn expression, as she took a sip of tea, "I just want to know who could be responsible for such a tragedy, I've lived here quite some time now, I know a lot of ponies, and none of them could possibly be capable of such an act" Rarity said, levitating up her cup, Twilight walked over to the window, "I guess everypony has a secret to hide about themselves, I wouldn't be surprised if we don't catch the killer, he's probably long gone" Rainbow said, in a serious but calm tone.

Twilight listened to her friends, "no, as much as I would want to believe it, I have a feeling that the killer is still here, in PonyVille, he's probably right under our noses, where we least expect him, he would want to stay and admire his work, before striking again" she said in a solemn tone, her friends all looked at each other confused, "okay, who made you the professional on psycho killers?" Rainbow said hovering in the air, Twilight turned to them, "right before we left the scene, I saw Fleet there, he was staring at the bodies as they passed by him, there was this look of…guilt on his face, like he regretted something, and if you girls remember, he disappeared on us for the majority of the party, nopony saw him go anywhere, and then he appears at the scene again, of the things I read about them, killers always return to the scene of the crime" she said in a dark tone, they all looked at each other with worried glances.

"Are you saying, that…Fleet's the killer, I don't know, he's just a new arrival, he seemed so nice" Applejack said in disbelief, Twilight frowned, "I'm not saying he is, but unless he has an alibi for that night, he's just as good a suspect as anypony, maybe I'll go talk with him later, just a friendly visit" she said with a serious look.

(Later that day…)

After they went their separate ways, to continue on with their day, Twilight headed off to see Fleet up at his mansion, she wanted to go and ask him a few questions, she looked in all directions as she made her way out of town, and walked along the path that lead to the house, as she walked, she thought of what to ask him, she continued walking until she eventually she got to the front door, the entire house seemed dark, only a few lights were on, the clouds in the sky began to darken.

She took a deep breath, and raised her hoof up and knocked, it was quiet enough she could have sworn she heard the knocking echo through the house, she waited for a few seconds when the door opened, revealing Fleet's head butler, he had a calm look on his face, Twilight cleared her throat, "hi, is Fleet here, I wanted to talk with him" she said, the butler was about to open his mouth when another voice answered, "it's alright Emerald, let me" came a familiar voice, the butler stepped back, giving a slight bow, and walking away before Fleet appeared in the doorway, "oh Twilight, it's you, I wasn't expecting you to come by, not exactly the best weather for a stroll, would you like to come in?" he asked gesturing for her to come in, Twilight did her best to smile, as she thanked him and walked inside, as she walked past him, he looked out the door, looking in all directions, as if looking for somepony, he quickly closed the door behind him and followed her to his library.

(Fleet's house, library)

Twilight sat down and made herself comfortable, while Fleet poured her a glass of wine and levitated it to her, "we never got a chance to thank you for the great party, I think Pinkie would be jealous" she said with a chuckle, he merely smiled and took a drink of his wine, "yes, I must apologize for my abrupt exit that night, I had…important business to take care of, stuff for the company" he said taking another drink, and sighing, Twilight looked down for a minute, and an awkward silence fell over them, "listen Fleet, I should apologize" she said, this caught Fleet's attention, "apologize for what?" he asked looking at her confused.

She sighed and looked up at him sadly, "I'm sure you saw the crime scene, nothing like this has ever happened here before, this is a peaceful and innocent town, or at least it was, I still can't believe that this happened, who could have done such a thing, I didn't know those ponies that much, but they were good ponies, they didn't deserve that kind of death" she said looking up at him, he wearily took a drink of his wine, Twilight saw a look of guilt in his eyes, which only raised her suspicion.

After he finished his drink, Fleet cleared his throat, "yes, the head of the local authorities was already here earlier, they asked a couple of questions, I gave my honest answer, the reason I left that night, at the party, was because I had to do fill out some paperwork, for the company, my butler was there with me" he said, Twilight gave a silent sigh of relief, obviously Fleet had an alibi, she couldn't hold anything against him, he stood up and walked back over to the shelves and began skimming them, "I'm sure this tragedy has affected the entire town, normally I would not want to live in a town where murder happens, but by this point in life, I'm used to being around death" he said in a solemn tone, that comment caught Twilight's attention, "what do you mean by that?" she asked, she waited for an answer, she watched as Fleet leaned up against the shelf, although she couldn't see his face, she could tell he was conflicted about telling her, finally he took shaky breath, "you read a lot of books Twilight, tell me, have you read about the infamous Baltimare murders" he said turning to face her, Twilight looked down thinking, she may have read something about them somewhere, but she couldn't recall.

"I think maybe I have, why?" she asked, he eyed for a few seconds and then, walked back and sat down, "it was a terrible tragedy, there was a murderer on the loose in the streets, he terrorized the city for years, claiming lives, the authorities never managed to catch him" he said in a solemn tone, he looked up at her, "I don't understand, what does this have to do with you?" she asked, he looked away sorrowfully, and then turned back to her, "when I was a young colt, my parents and older brother were killed in their beds, I was the only one left alive, they never found the killer, after that I was taken in by my uncle and aunt, they raised me, while my uncle watched over the company until I was old enough, then it would be passed to me, after that the killings stopped, just like that" he said in a solemn voice.

There was something in his eyes that told her he wasn't telling the complete truth, but she couldn't tell for sure, "I…I'm sorry to hear that, I didn't mean for you to think about that, I'm sorry" she said, he stood up and walked over to her, she looked up at him and stood up facing him, he simply smiled, "it wasn't your fault, I've been burdened by that memory all my life, there's no escaping it, I was very small, I don't remember much about my parents, but I know they were good ponies, I 'll have to live with it, the rest of my life" he said as he glanced up at the clock, and then glanced outside.

"Oh my, the clouds are getting thicker, you best make it home, before it starts to rain, come on, and I'll walk you out" he said as they exited the library, and made their way to the front door, he calmly opened it for her, she smiled and walked past him, but not before stopping and placing a hoof on his shoulder, "I'm sorry for everything, I know you're not a bad guy, you seem so pleasant and innocent, you don't seem capable of hurting anypony, I'll see you later" she said as she walked out the door, he watched her go, doing his best to smile, he watched her until she was far enough away, his smile turned to a frown, he sighed sadly and closed the door, he turned back and leaned against the door for a minute, taking in what she said, "innocent?" he said quietly to himself, as if mesmerized by the word, he slowly began walking away from the door, "if only that were true, Twilight, if only" he said as he made his way back up to his room.

**A/N: well there you have it, that's all for now, the mysteries continue to unfold, come back next time to see what happens next, hope you enjoyed and peace.**


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: well, I wanted to get back to updating as frequently as possible, while I don't have homework, so here's the latest chapter for this story, hope you enjoy.**

**Trials of Redemption: chapter 5: second attack**

After meeting up with Fleet, Twilight walked back to the library, and quickly invited her friends over, to tell them what she discovered, needless to say, they all felt sad for Fleet's loss, but one of them didn't seem particularly convinced.

"And you're sure?" Rainbow Dash said, as she hovered around the room, all of Twilight's friends gathered around her, Twilight sighed, "it's like I said girls, he had an alibi, he can't be the killer" she said looking at all of them, Rainbow just crossed her hooves, and sighed, "you can't be sure about that" she said, Twilight looked up at her, and groaned, "why are you so certain it was him?" she asked, as Rainbow landed next to her, "I'm not saying it is, what I am saying is, that maybe he's trying to fool you, make you believe that he's innocent" she said, Twilight frowned at her, "no, I won't believe that, he's a nice guy, I don't even think he has it in him to harm another pony" she said walking over to the window, and looking out into the cloudy sky.

"Twilight, maybe Rainbow has a point, I mean, a killer would never admit to a murder like that, of course they would make up an alibi, did you ask any other pony, how about his butler?" Applejack said with a concerned look, Twilight looked away for a moment, she didn't want to believe it, but she knew Rainbow was probably right, a killer would never admit to a murder, she just turned to her friends.

"maybe your right, but I'm not jumping to any conclusions, let's just see what happens next, maybe we can prevent the next attack" she said with a worried look, all her friends looked at each other and nodded, "well, I better get going, have to get everything locked up in the barn before it starts raining" Applejack said as they all made their way out the door, Twilight sighed and closed it behind them.

(Sweet Apple Acres, barn)

As Applejack was making her way to the barn, Big Macintosh were busy putting everything away in the barn, so that it wouldn't get wet in the storm, the wind was blowing harder now, "Applejack hurry up, get that stuff in the barn quickly" Mac said as he walked out, she nodded and stepped inside, closing the door behind her, she walked over and placed everything in their position.

Just as she stacked everything up, she quickly heard the door creak open, she turned to see the door slamming against the frame, she gave a confused look, "Applebloom, is that you?" she asked looking around the barn, when she didn't get an answer, she quickly walked towards the door and was about to leave, when she heard a rustling sound come from behind, she sharply turned around, her eyes widened in fear, as she felt her heart thump against her chest.

"Applebloom, stop messing around, this ain't funny!" she said loudly, but still no reply, no sign that it was her younger sister playing a joke, her only response was another thud, her first instinct was to run back to the house but if it really was her sister, she couldn't leave her out in the barn alone, just before a storm, "Applebloom, I swear ah'll go back to the house and leave you here all night" she said despite her fear, yet again no response, she slowly started to make her way over to the source of the sound, "a-a-Applebloom?" she said in a nervous tone, the fear finally taking a hold of her voice, she felt her thump loudly, it echoed in her ears, just as she got closer, she heard another noise, a whooshing sound, and then glass shattering, she jumped and turned to her right, and saw that one of the lanterns had fallen to the ground and broke, she gulped and made her way to the lamp.

As she took a step closer, a crack of thunder rolled outside, and the barn filled up with the light of lightning, and she saw the shadow of what appeared to be a pony behind the barrels, where the lamp was knocked off, she stopped in her tracks, from what she could tell it wasn't the shape of a young filly, but a full grown stallion, and she knew her brother would never play tricks like this.

She took another step closer, only a few inches from the barrels, she made a quick move and pushed the barrels aside, and gave a sigh of relief, as the shadow form was just conveniently stacked blocks of hay, she gave a sigh and felt her heart begin to slow, and she slowly turned, but just as she did, she felt a powerful force knock her to her side.

She cried out in surprise as she tumbled on to her back, she felt weight press down on her, and she looked up, to see a hooded pony standing above her, pressing her hooves down, she cried out in fear, since the barn wasn't that well lite, she couldn't see into his hood, but she heard him chuckle, as he leaned in closer, "let me go!" she cried out trying to sound brave, but her fear grew beyond all measure, as he leaned in closer.

"you and your friends shouldn't be interfering in things you don't understand, such as my work, now I'll have to kill each and every one of you" he said, with a sinister chuckle, the voice was deep and ominous, but she faintly recognized it, it was a voice she heard not long ago, and one thought entered her mind, "Fleet?" she said quietly, but the stallion merely chuckled and leaned away, just as he did, the main door to the barn flew open, as a huge burst of wind from the storm outside, filled the room.

The stallion turned to it, and Applejack noticed his hood starting to slide off, for the briefest moment she thought she saw a light blue mane, but the stallion grabbed the hood and pulled it back over, letting go of one of Applejack's hooves, she took the opportunity, and reared her legs up and kicked him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him, and using her free hoof, punching him in the face, he cried out in pain as he toppled off her.

Applejack scrambled to her hooves, and tried to run, but failed and fell on her stomach, she looked back to see him grabbing on to one of her back hooves, "you little bitch!" he shouted as he pulled her back, and pulled up, Applejack reacted and reared her other hoof, and kicked him in the face, she felt the blow land, but his grip didn't loosen, she did it again with another successful hit, this time he let go and she scrambled to her hooves again and made a run for the door.

She only made it a yard before he jumped her from behind, and turned her on to her back, she watched in terror, as he took out a knife and raised it above his head, "you shouldn't of done that" he said, Applejack looked in fear, but just as he raised it above his head, she used her strength in her back legs, and summed up all her might, and delivered a damaging blow to his stomach, he gasped and fell off her, she turned on to her stomach, and yelled at the top of her lungs, "Macintosh, Applebloom! Help!" she yelled out, hoping to be heard over the storm wind, she got up and turned to face him, she watched as he pushed himself up and turned to her, reading the knife.

"nice try, but your family can't hear you" he said, as he charged at her, knife at the ready, his speed was great, as Applejack dodged to the side and winced as she felt the blade cut into her shoulder, she rolled to the side, crying out in pain she clutched her bleeding shoulder, she looked up to see him standing over her, she still couldn't see his face, but she heard him laughing, as he raised the knife above his head, just as he smiled at her, the lightning flashed again, and the reflection of the shattered lamp, filled up the hood, and for the briefest second, Applejack could see his face, although she could hardly tell any features, it was gone in a mere second.

Just as he was about to bring the knife down, they heard a male voice shout over the storm, "Applejack, were coming!" she heard her brother shout, the attacker turned away for a minute, he gave a frustrated growl as he turned to her, he sheathed the knife, and picked her up by the throat, and brought her close to his face, which she still could not see, "this isn't over, you and your friends can't escape me, I'll come back, and I'll kill every one of you, and I'm going to enjoy it" he said before he slammed her into the barrels and they broke from her weight, the force of the blow nearly knocked her unconscious, she was left there in a dazed state, her vision blurred as she watched the hooded pony disappear into the night.

Seconds past before two more familiar blurred visions, they tried to speak to her, but the blow took its toll as the darkness clouded her vision and took her.

**A/N: well, it's been a while since I've updated, I hope you enjoyed, and as I always say, it's only going to get more interesting.**


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: well, since I have some free time from my overworked homework schedule, I decided to bring you guys another chapter for this story, hope you have enjoyed.**

**Trials of Redemption: chapter 6: searching for the truth**

Applejack couldn't remember what happened after that, she only had vague memories of being hauled on to a stretcher, being pushed down a bright hallway, and being placed on a soft bed, just before she fell into the darkness again.

(Later…)

Applejack slowly opened her eyes, and saw that she was in a hospital room, her vision was still blurred but she saw that there were blurred outlines of ponies standing around her bed, she could hear voices but couldn't understand what they are saying, she waited a few minutes to open her eyes again, and saw that it was less blurry, she looked up to see several familiar faces surrounding her bed, all her friends, and brother and sister, they all smiled at her as she opened her eyes.

"Applejack, you're okay!" her sister cried out as she jumped on to the bed and hugged her fiercely, she cringed slightly but smiled, and hugged her back, when they separated, she looked at all her friends, "what happened?" she asked, Twilight took a step forward, "well, after you were attacked, the police arrived and took you here, when we heard of what happened, we rushed straight over, the doctor said you suffered from the cut in your shoulder and the blow to the head, but luckily, he said that when you woke up, you'd be able to leave, but you would need to take it easy" she said with a small smile, Applejack sighed and leaned back in the bed.

A minute passed before she turned to her brother and sister, "can you two give me a moment with my friends, I'll see you later" she said in a tired tone, they both nodded and smiled and walked out of the room, Applejack sighed and turned to her friends, seeing the expectant look on their faces, "I already know what you're going to ask" she said with a calm tone, Twilight sighed, "Applejack, I know you just woke up and all, but we need to know, did you get a good look at the attacker?" she asked with a concerned tone, Applejack looked away for a minute.

Twilight sighed and took another step forward, "Applejack, we need to know-" she began to say but was cut off by Applejack turning to face her with anger in her eyes, "what do you want from me Twilight! I was nearly killed by some maniac, and all you can do is stand there is ask me questions about the attack, you can't even give me time to clear my head!" she shouted, Twilight took a few steps back, completely shocked by her friends sudden outburst.

Applejack immediately regretted it, as she looked at all her friends shocked faces, she took a deep breath, and leaned back against the pillow, "I-I'm sorry Twilight, I shouldn't have yelled, it's just that…I was so scared during the entire thing, I've never felt more fear in my life, I thought I was going to die…I'm sorry Twilight" she said looking away, Twilight looked at all her friends, and looked down in shame, "no your right, I shouldn't be asking too much of you, we'll leave you alone to get some rest, we'll be by later to pick you up" she said as all her friends started for the door, she looked over to them, "wait…" she said and they stopped to look at her.

"I remember something…there was this flash of light, and for the briefest second I could see his face, and I'm not sure, it happened much too fast, but I could have sworn I saw…Fleet" she said in a concerned tone, Twilight felt her heart beat faster, "alright, that's good, you get some rest, we'll be back later" she said and they all left.

Applejack watched them until the door closed, and then sighed heavily, and waited for a minute, before she closed her eyes and let herself drift into sleep again.

(Later that day…)

After she was awoken by the doctor's, Applejack was brought to the lobby, where she was greeted by her friends, despite her shoulder being more or less healed; she was still required to have a bandage on, and when they picked her up, they immediately took her to the library, where they would discuss their next more.

(PonyVille, public library)

Twilight anxiously paced back and forth, her friends eagerly watched her, waiting for any ideas, when Rainbow took a step forward, "I don't know why we're all just standing here, we know it was him, we should go to the authorities and have him arrested" she stated fiercely, Twilight looked at her and shook her head, "you know we can't do that, we still don't have enough proof, even if it was him, Applejack only told us what she thought she saw, there are a number on ponies here who have light blue manes" she said, but this only angered Rainbow, as she stamped her hoof down.

"Why are you so determined to defend him!?" she yelled, Twilight started to get angry as well, "I'm not, but we don't have enough proof, say we do call the authorities and he is arrested, what if the attacks don't stop, besides, he's a rich stallion, he could probably get out with bail, I'm just saying we need to get more info, and making wild accusations isn't getting us any closer" she said, Rainbow took another step forward.

"yeah, well-" she said before Applejack interjected, "enough, both of you, Twilight has a point, I'm not sure what I saw, I know other stallions here in PonyVille who have blue manes, but, you also have a point, we can't just sit here and do nothing" she said, and they all calmed down, Twilight sighed and looked away for a moment, "fine, even if we do confront him, and he does turn out to be the killer, he could be dangerous, even for the six of us" she said, Rainbow sighed and nodded, finally calming down.

The room fell silent for a moment, "well, how do we find out the truth?" Fluttershy asked, Twilight turned to her and then looked at all her friends, "we don't know if he is the killer, but we also don't have enough proof to prove it was him, I think the smartest thing to do would be to travel to the source, Fleet mentioned he was born and raised in Baltimare, it's a shot in the dark, but we may be able to find some answers there, we should all go home and get some rest, get some stuff together, and we will meet at the station in the morning.

They all looked at each other, and slowly began to make their way out, Twilight put her hoof on Rainbow's shoulder and smiled, she smiled back and flew off into the air, Twilight sighed and glanced into the distant, at the massive mansion, the entire building was dark, save for the single light in one of the upstairs windows, she watched as it went out, leaving the building in darkness, she sighed again and looked up at the bright moon, "I sure hope your innocent, I really do" she said before making her way back inside.

**A/N: well, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, what secrets will they find in Fleet's home town, come back next time to find out, peace.**


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: well here I am again, offering up another chapter for the story, usual drill as always, hope you enjoy.**

**Trials of Redemption: chapter 7: finding answers**

After they went their separate ways for the night, they all did what they were told and got some sleep for the next day's journey, waking up the next morning and packing for a brief trip to baltimare.

"Why is this so important to you Twilight?" Spike asked as Twilight paced back and forth, making sure she had everything for the trip, she sighed and turned to him, "because, we need to solve this crime before any more ponies get hurt, we'll be back probably tomorrow, two days at the most, just keep an eye on the place, I got to go meet the girls at the station, bye Spike" she said, Spike calmly waved goodbye as she left the building and headed for the train station.

(PonyVille, train station)

After making her way through the town, Twilight arrived at the station, much to her relief, she saw her friends there waiting for her, she smiled and walked up to them, "glad to see you all made it on time, you girls ready?" she asked, they all looked at each and smiled, Twilight smiled back and they headed for the ticket booth and got their tickets and quickly boarded the train, unaware of the stallion watching them from across the street.

As he watched them board the train he sighed and turned away, when another pony walked up to him, "sir, what should we do about them?" he asked, the other one sighed, "send a message to my boys in Baltimare, tell them to keep an eye on our friends, I want to know what they're trying to find out" he said before he turned and walked away.

(Later that day, Baltimare train station)

Twilight and her friends eagerly watched as the train pulled into the station, when the conductor called out for all passengers for Baltimare, they six friends simply walked off and got off the platform, "wow, it's been a while since I've been here, ponies say that Baltimare is one of the oldest cities in the kingdom, aside from Canterlot" Rarity said with amazement, Twilight turned to her friends with a serious look.

"Alright, were not here for the scenery, we here to gather information on Fleet, I suggest we start by reading up on the killings, let's head for the library" she said, but Rainbow cut in, "wait a minute, you don't have a book on this, and why go through all that, when we should just find Fleet's family and ask them?" she asked, Twilight turned to face her again, "firstly, we need to find somepony not related to him, any of his family members would easily defend him, we need a pony who will not have a direct connection, secondly excuse me for not having a book on infamous serial killers" she said the last part in a sarcastic tone.

Rainbow gave an annoyed sigh as they started walking, towards the public library.

(Baltimare, public library)

After they arrived at the large historic building, they all split up and searched for anything they could find on the Baltimare murders, and they met up all carrying a book on the subject, where they found Twilight sitting at a table, reading through a book filled with scraps of newspaper articles, "find anything Twi?" Applejack asked, she shushed them and motioned for them to come over.

They all slowly gathered around her, "ok, so here's what I found out, the murders ended after the killer known as Night Light, was found dead in the Star's family home, initially the authorities came to the conclusion, that he was killed by the family's youngest son, Fleet Star, who was only a young colt at the time, the boy was found alongside his parents dead bodies, Fleet was later put under the care of his Aunt and Uncle, here's a picture" she said pointing to the picture of the article.

They all looked closely, and saw a picture of a small much younger Fleet Star, wrapped in a blanket, being lead out of the area by a pony in a police uniform, "look here the picture says, 'young Fleet Star and chief of police, Moon Beam' he looks as old as Applebloom does now" she said, Twilight looked at all her friends, "sweet Celestia, to think of seeing all that horror at such a young age, that's horrible" Applejack said in a shocked tone.

"What do we do now?" Pinkie asked, Twilight stood up, "our best bet would be to head to the police station and talk to the chief of police, he may know more about Fleet, and he can tell us what we need to know" she said before looking in all directions and seeing nopony in sight, she quickly removed that specific article from the book and put it in her bag and walked away, all her friends watched in surprise as she turned to them and motioned for them to follow, they looked at each other confused and quickly followed her out., their next destination, the police station.

(Baltimare, police station)

After making their way through the busy streets of the city, they finally came upon the large two story building, which they presumed was the station.

Quickly making their way inside, they walked over to the mane desk, where a young stallion in a uniform was standing, when they walked up, Twilight cleared her throat, the stallion looked up and put on a big smile, "hello, how may I help you ladies today?" he asked, Twilight did her best to put on a big smile, "yes, we were wondering if chief Moon Beam was available, we need to speak with him" she said, the request caught him off guard, and he frowned.

"Um, I'm sorry, but I can't tell you-" he was about to say, but was cut off by another stallion walking up to him, "cadet, what are you doing?" a stern voice said, the young stallion stood up straight and saluted as a slightly older stallion came out, his uniform more decorated, "nothing sir, I was just answering this mares question" he said glancing at Twilight, the stallion looked at her and sighed, "very well, your dismissed, I'll handle it" he said, the younger one saluted and walked away.

"sorry about that, he's fresh from the academy, how can I help you, I'm chief Star Shot" he said extending his hoof out, Twilight and all her friends looked at each other confused but she shook his hoof none the less, "it's quite alright, but I think I may have misheard you, were looking for chief Moon Beam, are you his assistant?" she asked, his expression changed to a frown, "no, I am the chief of the police, I'm sorry to say, but chief Moon Beam retired a few years ago, I was just a new recruit, when he was in his prime, he's a great stallion, very honorable and wise, it's a shame he retired, he had some much more in him, but I guess age and experience eventually has its toll on you" he said with a sigh, Twilight gave all her friends a concerned look, "well, do you know where he lives, we just need to ask him a few questions, can you help us?" she asked, he looked at her intently for a minute, but then he smiled.

"sure can, I'll have my assistant write down the address for you, just tell him star shot sent you, I'm not sure what this is about, but as long as it doesn't concern breaking the law, it's not my problem" he said as his assistant brought him a slip of paper, he took it and gave it to her, and smiled, "hope you enjoy your stay in the city, if you need any more assistance, just let me know" he said as he turned and walked away, Twilight sighed and turned to the girls.

"well, looks like we know where he is, we'll have to find him tomorrow, it's getting late, I suppose we should find a motel or something, we'll go there tomorrow morning" she said as they all made their way out of the building.

**A/N: hope you all enjoyed, and as I've said before, and will probably keep saying, it's only going to get better next chapter.**


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: well I finally had a chance to do some more writing, since my schedule can be very busy, with school and all that stuff, so…yeah I hope you enjoy.**

**Trials of Redemption: chapter 8: shocking revelations**

After they had found a motel to stay in for the night, they had woken up early the next morning found a nice café to have breakfast in, and after doing so they began making their way to the residential part of the city, following the address the chief had given them.

(Baltimare, residential district)

As they walked along the street, they kept a watch on all the address's on the sides of the houses, knowing that they were in the ore wealthier part of the district, they thought it would be harder to find it, "okay this is getting exhausting, where is it?" an impatient Rainbow asked, Twilight just kept looking from the small piece of paper to the address's, "according to the paper, it should be right about…here" she said stopping and looking at the house, it was a fairly large two story house, with a nice décor around it, they all looked at each other and slowly walked up the steps.

Twilight hesitated for a minute, but then moved her hoof up to ring the bell, they could hear it echo inside the house, a minute or two passed when the door slowly began to open, and an elderly stallion looked out at them, from what they could tell he looked exactly like the stallion in the picture, only older, his mane had started turning gray but not fully, he looked in rather well health to be retired.

"Yes, can I help you?" he asked, Twilight was the first to speak up after clearing her throat, "yes, are you chief Moon Beam?" she asked, he looked a little surprised but he did his best to smile, "yes I am he, or at least just Moon Beam, I retired from the force a few years ago, sorry, sometimes I can't help but reminisce on the past, how can I help you ladies today?" he asked kindly, Twilight smiled at him, "my name is Twilight Sparkle, these are my friends, we hope not to take up too much of your time, but we just wanted to ask you a few questions?" she asked, this caught his attention, as he opened the door slightly wider, "pertaining to what subject?" he asked in a very calm voice.

Twilight looked back at her friends who nodded at her, she turned and took a deep breath while the stallion waited patiently, "it's about Fleet Star, I believe you know him" she said just as she did, a smile appeared on his face, "ah yes Fleet, of course I know him, I've been a friend of the family for years now, how is he?, I can't imagine you would need to ask me anything about him, he's perfectly capable of answering as well" he said with a smile, Twilight took another deep breath.

"yes well, the questions we have pertain to a different topic, and we wanted to ask somepony that doesn't have any family ties with him, you see, were from PonyVille, and Fleet just bought a house and moved there, only just a few days later, there was a murder there, a young couple was killed in their house, the sign of the murderer, PonyVille is a very peaceful town, nothing like this had ever occurred there, until he came to town" she said in a nervous tone, she watched as the smile fell from his face and was replaced by a frown.

Twilight and the girls watched as he looked out the door, both ways down the street, as if he was expecting to see someone watching them, he quickly looked back at Twilight and opened the door wider, "you'd better come inside" he said, Twilight and all her friends slowly walked into the house, while Moon Beam too one last look down the road, before he closed the door behind them.

All of them unaware of the stallion watching them from down the street with binoculars, after he closed the door, the one with binoculars turned to the other and nodded, the other reached up to his earpiece and pressed the button, "we have the targets in sight boss" he said before they turned and walked away.

As he led them into the main hall, an older mare entered the room, "sweetie, everything okay? Who's your friend's?" she asked with a smile, he turned to them, "ladies this is my wife, there just here to ask a few questions, think you can make some snacks for our visitors?" he asked, she smiled, "sure, take them to the study, I'll be with you soon" she said as she walked out of the room. He smiled and turned to them, and motioned for them follow him.

After walking down the main hall them came into what they presumed was his study, he offered for them to sit down, he quickly took a seat and cleared his throat, "so, how might I be of help?" he asked trying his best to sound pleasant, Twilight and all her friends gave each other concerned looks, "we wanted to know everything about Fleet, as much as you can tell us" she said, he looked away for a minute and sighed deeply, "it's…not the most pleasant story, but if what you say is true, then I suppose you deserve to know his story, so I'll start at the beginning" he said taking a deep breath.

"Fleet was born the youngest of two brothers, his father was owner of Star industries, one of the wealthiest companies in the kingdom, they were some of the nicest ponies one could know, Fleet had a promising future, he always seemed like a good kid, but then tragedy struck him and his family" he said just as his wife walked in with a tray of sandwiches and cups of tea, he took a sip of his tea and continued on.

"the murderer known as Black Light, snuck into their house in the middle of the night, stabbed the father five times, twice in the chest, three times in the stomach, but not before he made her watch him rape his wife and then slit her throat, the eldest son never heard a thing, he was stabbed to death in his sleep, fleet heard it all, he woke up when he heard his parents screaming, he made his way up to their room, he found them, the bed sheets soaked in their blood, the scene was so horrible, even I couldn't stand to see it" he said as a chill went through his spine, Twilight and the others patiently waited for him to continue.

"from what we could tell, he hid in the closet when the killer entered the room again, he found his father's pistol, and levitated it up, and jumped out to confront the killer, one of the neighbors next door heard the shot and called for the police, we arrived not long later…" he said hesitating the last part, they could all see the sadness in his eyes, but they still wanted to know, "then what happened?" Rainbow asked.

He looked up at her and then sighed, "The most horrible thing you could imagine, when we found him, he was lying in his parents bed, covered in their blood, in took us an hour to finally get him to let go and calm him down, I…I've never seen more fear and terror in a pony's eyes then I did that night, to be exposed to that kind of horror at such a young age, just the day before he seemed like any other young colt, but that night, if you looked into his eyes, you could see that he was different, like something in his eyes just changed, I still remember even now" he said as a single tear fell from his eye, he looked up at them.

Twilight herself felt tears well up, she wiped them away, she had no idea how horrible it was, "then…then what happened to him?" she asked, he wiped the tears away and looked up at her, "by legal rights his aunt and uncle took him in, and according to his father's will, the company was now his, but since he was too young his uncle took over until he was of age, he eventually went back to school, graduated from the Baltimare university, and is uncle gave up control of the company to him, and then on, over the years he began to smile again, he made friends laughed and played with them, but if you looked closely enough, you could still see that look in his eyes, as if the memory still haunted him, but who could blame him" he said with a shaky breath.

"I'm so sorry, we never knew" Rainbow said sadly, Moon Beam gave off a light chuckle as he finished wiping the tears away, "but then it started again, another murder in the exact same fashion as before, I guess Fleet couldn't take it anymore, and he sold his home and moved away from Baltimare, he moved to Fillydelphia, there he met a beautiful young mare, and not long later, he found himself in love with her, but it seems that fate was forever cruel to him, on the night that he planned to propose to her, they were attacked by some psycho, he didn't harm him, but he killed his soon to be fiancée, and then left, his heart was broken, the family accused him of the murder, but he was eventually cleared of those charges, and he moved away again, each time he moved, death seemed to follow him" he said with a sad look in his eyes.

Twilight and her friends all exchanged concerned looks, "that's…that's horrible, I never knew it was that bad" she said, he looked up at her, "for such a young stallion, he's been through a lot of terrible things, he seems like such a nice stallion and he really is, but if you look close enough you can see he's nothing more than a tortured soul, if you say that he's moved to PonyVille, and that a couple has already been murdered, I suggest you keep alert, wherever he goes, death follows him" he said, Twilight sighed sadly and looked up at the clock, she quickly stood up, "well, thank you for your time, I apologize for making you have to think about that, we need to be going" she said as her friends joined her and they made their way for the door.

"you must understand, Fleet is a good stallion, he would never hurt anypony unless he had too, I can see that look in your eyes, you think he is the murderer don't you?" he asked, Twilight stopped and turned to him, a more serious look in her eye, "I think…that anypony is capable of anything, even if they may not know it, thank you for your time" she said as they left the house.

As they walked down the street, Twilight was deep in thought; this was all a lot to take in, "so…what do we do know?" Fluttershy asked, Twilight stopped and turned to them, "we return to PonyVille, we need to get up close info on Fleet, maybe we can finally get to the bottom of this" she said as she turned and walked down the street, her friends calmly walked after her.

All of them unaware of the mysterious hooded stallion watching them from the corner street, as he watched them go, a sinister smile appeared on his face as he turned and walked the other direction.

**A/N: well now we know the truth of our mysterious friend, how will our hero's handle it; find out next time, peace.**


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N: well I'm back again…and I'm really starting to run out of things to say…um…enjoy the story I guess, well you know the drill.**

**Trials of Redemption: chapter 9: returning home**

After spending another night in the city, the girls quickly made their way to the train station, and bought tickets for the next train back to PonyVille, not long after they waited did the train arrive and they quickly boarded, they all waited anxiously as the train left the station, and headed for home.

(PonyVille, train station)

A few hours passed when the train whistle squealed loudly and the breaks began to kick in, the girls watched as the train came to a stop, and they quickly made their way off the platform, as they walked through the streets, they slowly came up to the library, Twilight turned to them, "alright girls, we should rest up for today, then tomorrow we'll go and confront him, I'll see you all later" she said and they all nodded before going their separate ways, Twilight opened the door, and walked inside.

The first thing she saw was Spike sitting on the couch, eating a bucket of ice cream, when he saw her, he slowly pushed the tube away and chuckled nervously, "heh, Twilight, I thought you said you'd be back later in the day, welcome home" he said nervously rubbing his arm, Twilight frowned and walked passed him, "never mind that Spike, any mail or anything?" she asked putting her bag down, he shook his head, "nothing more than the usual, I'll put your stuff in the basement, be right back" he said, Twilight smiled as she watched him go.

Twilight stood there for a few minutes just relaxing from the trip back, when she suddenly heard knocking on the door, she groaned and walked up to the door, "I thought I told you girls to go home and get some re-" she said but was cut off when she opened the door, and saw none other than Fleet standing there, a smile on his face, her eyes widened and she found herself at a loss for words, "hey Twilight, I was wondering if I could take you up on your offer to exchange some books or something, can I come in?" he asked calmly, Twilight struggled to speak, but she didn't want to sound suspicious, she opened the bottom portion of the door, and stepped to the side, he smiled and walked inside, and looked around, "where's Spike?" he asked, Twilight could feel her heart beat slowly beginning to increase, "he's in the basement, putting my travel bag away" she said in a calm tone.

He chuckled lightly as he walked along the bookshelf; he turned to her with a smile, "travel bag? Why did you need one of those?" he asked, as he turned to her, Twilight could feel sweat coming down her face, "well…I was just making sure it was in good condition, I've been meaning to buy a new one" she said, but Fleet smiled, and took a step closer, "Twilight…I can tell your lying, I'm well aware of your trip to Baltimare, to see the old chief, how is Moon Beam by the way?" he asked, Twilight knew she had been caught in the act, there was no point hiding it now.

She sighed heavily, and looked down, "yes my friends and I went to Baltimare to visit Moon Beam, how did know?" she asked, he gave off a light chuckle, "being the owner of a wealthy has its advantages, one of them having my own little group of spies that I hired to spy on my competitors, I have eyes and ears everywhere, what was it that you wanted to talk with Moon Beam about, it's okay to tell me, I'm just curious to know" he said taking a few steps closer, Twilight took a few steps back.

"we just…wanted to know about what happened to you, I'm sorry Fleet, about your family, your marefriend, I never knew you went through such pain" she said, he frowned slightly, and took another step closer, "it's okay, all water under the bridge at this point, if you really wanted to know the truth, you could have just asked me, I would have told you" he said as he nearly stepped in front of Twilight, he slowly reached his hoof out to her and Twilight backed up until she hit the book shelf, Fleet hesitated and then looked away sadly, "I know what you're thinking, you think I'm the killer, you think I killed that nice couple, and attacked your friend, I guess you have every right to be suspicious, new stallion moves into town, then all these terrible things start happening, you're not the first and probably not the last" he said as he backed away and slowly started making his way to the door.

Twilight watched as he opened it, he hesitated and turned to look at her, with sadness in his eyes, "I'm not the bad guy in all this, I'm no killer Twilight, I'm a victim, just like that nice couple and your friend, I never meant harm to anypony, I just wanted to live a simple life, but no matter what I do, my past forever haunts me, I just thought you should know, and be careful" he said before he left and closed the door behind him.

Twilight watched and let out a deep breath, just as Spike came walking up, "what was that all about?" he asked, Twilight wiped away the tears that threatened to spill out, as she turned to him, "nothing he just came over for a visit, I think I'll take a little nap Spike, wake me up in a few hours" she said as she made her way up the stairs.

**A/N: well, that chapter came out shorter than I expected, but oh well, things don't always go as planned, hope you enjoyed, peace.**


End file.
